How platelets help cancer spread
By Sarah Webb
As cancer cells migrate in the body from a primary tumor, they’re chaperoned by clumps of platelets. These bloodstream particles shield the cells from damage and help them invade new tissues in the process called metastasis. Researchers have now discovered how one molecule helps tumor cells aggregate their platelet entourages.
Researchers had known that podoplanin, a protein found on the surface of many tumor cells, was involved in metastasis. But no one had found receptors for the protein on the surfaces of platelet cells, so it wasn’t clear how podoplanin worked.